Yangarra High Sands Grenache 2018
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James
Suckling -
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
High Sands is their Holy Grail. It captures the essence of Yangarra's prized old vines. The High Sands block has a restrained authoritative power that is an antithesis to its purity, fragrance and beauty.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
So rich, complex and intense with a wealth of very ripe, powerful fruit on offer. Blood-orange and pomegranate notes, together with stony aromas, providing a very complex feel. The palate is super powerful and juicy. So very long, so rich and so well defined, showing mouthwatering tannins and a very sleek, long and juicy drive of red-fruit flavor. This has immense power and carries rich, ripe red and blue fruit. Wow. So intense. Drink or hold.
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Wine & Spirits
This is Peter Fraser’s barrel selection of the best grenache from a parcel in Yangarra’s Blewitt Springs vineyards, the vines planted in 1946 on three feet of silica sands over clay. He cold-soaks the fruit without its stems, half of it as whole berries, then allows it to ferment spontaneously, bringing out a complex perfume in the concentrated old-vine fruit. Even as the alcohol is apparent—giving the tannins a mouth-puckering power—the wine feels cool and rich. The savory intensity takes grenache in a classical direction, with the kind of grandeur more typically found in the Rhône or in the hills above Madrid than in the New World.
Other Vintages
2017-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
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James
Suckling
Yangarra Estate Vineyard is a biodynamic wine farm located in the Blewitt Springs district of McLaren Vale, South Australia. The estate was first planted in 1946 and is home to 87 hectares of vines, led by Grenache and Shiraz. Located a 40-minute drive south of Adelaide, the McLaren Vale winegrowing region has a Mediterranean climate, characterized by warm, dry summers with cool, wet winters.
Peter Fraser has been the winemaker and driving force behind Yangarra Estate Vineyard since 2000. Peter focuses much of his attention on the vineyards. When it comes to winemaking philosophy, Peter stands by some key foundations of sensitivity and attention-to-detail. Peter was named ‘Winemaker of the Year’ by James Halliday’s Wine Companion Awards. In 2018, he was nominated as Best Winemaker by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.